Is there anything we can do?

JBalways2000 · 28-01-2011, 01:30 PM

I have wrote this thread before, about the same kittie

When we first got our boys we always left dry food down for them to nibble at and then gave a wet meal in the evening. A couple of years ago when Raven was on a prescription diet and the other 3 wernt we suddenly wernt able to do this. AJ started waking us up all night long wanting food-we couldnt even just shut him out of the bedroom as he would sit and dig and cry at the door until we got up to feed him.

In August as some of you may remember, AJ developed the same bladder problems as Raven though luckily not as serious as Ravens were as his crystals never caused a blockage. Since then he has been on a prescription diet and it is back to feeding them morning and night and when they look for it. So since August we have not had a full nights sleep

That is no exaggeration-my poor OH gets up several times a night to feed AJ. Recently we have tried shutting him out of the bedroom again but the same thing happens, he sits crying and digging and to be honest it makes me feel guilty

It really does drive us up the wall during the night though, i mean we dont blame him because he was always used to being able to eat when he wanted, then it changed when Raven was on a different diet. then for about a year we were able to leave the food down again and we actually slept at night

and then it all changed for him again so we do understand why he is looking for it at night, but we wondered if there is anything we can be doing to get him used to just having bigger meals? He is on a mainly wet diet at the moment too, though he has a little prescription kibble. He doesnt tend to eat a whole pouch or tray at once and sometimes even though he makes a fuss looking for it he will only have a nibble then walk away and then 10 minutes later when the dish has been put away he will cry for it again. As you can imagine this is really frustrating for us, especially when it is 3am

But again we do understand and we dont blame him we just want a good nights sleep so we dont look like zombies!

I dont think it helps that he can smell Hernie and Rhinos food, which is obviously something we cant do anything about. He does enjoy his prescription diet most of time now, but still think he would prefer what the other boys are having. I dont know if anyone will be able to help with this or give any advice but i just figured the best place to ask is here amoungst cat lovers who may have experience with something similiar(though hopefully not for your sakes!

)

angieh · 28-01-2011, 01:55 PM

Poor you and poor AJ. The only solution that comes to mind if you have a spare room, is to make that AJ's "night room" - put his bed, a litter tray in it and before you go to bed, put AJ and a dish of his prescription food and maybe some of his own kibble down and shut him in there. You may think this is a horrid idea as he would be on his own overnight but I think it's the only way you are going to be able to get a night's sleep if you can ignore his cries. I really can't think of anything else.

JBalways2000 · 28-01-2011, 03:02 PM

Thankyou for the reply Angie. Unfortunately we dont have a spare room

Downstairs is all open plan and the other (bigger)bedroom belongs to our 3 bunnies and 2 ratties

He does the same during the day time too but obviously we are awake so it isnt as big a bother, though it would be nice to just have to feed the kitties 2 or 3 times a day! Hernie and Rhino are such good boys, even though they are used to the same routine they never cry or look for food and they get onto the end of the bed at night when the light goes out and stay there until we get up! infact Hernie will most often stay in bed after we have gotten up and sometimes requires a late breakfast as he misses it when the other two are eating

I just keep thinking that if AJ ate enough in a couple of meals to keep him full then maybe we wouldnt be having this problem. I dont think it helps that it is mainly wet food and i find this doesnt usually keep them full for long enough anyway

we thought giving a little dry food at night would help but we have been doing this a couple of months now and it hasnt made a difference. He is lying here looking at me now like butter wouldnt melt

tilly · 28-01-2011, 03:19 PM

This might be a father far fetched idea but is there anyway you could make a box for AJ with a cat flap in it with one of the magnetics door that only let in cats with the collars. If he would wear the collar and the other two didn't then you could leave his food down all the time in his special box and he could eat whenever he wanted to. Or if you have a cupboard the same idea might work there just put a flap in the door.

The other idea is you could get an extra large dog crate and put a litter tray, food, water and his bed in it a shut him in that just over night. It would mean he wasn't on his own as you could put it where the other cats are and he could then have his food down all night and he can eat when he wants.

Hope they can be of some help

Tilly

Velvet · 28-01-2011, 04:13 PM

Yes my first thought was a large dog crate, if you were nearer i could lend you one to try

Or how about just keeping him in the bedroom with you with dis of food & a litter tray

JBalways2000 · 28-01-2011, 06:28 PM

Thankyou both for the suggestions

I quite like the idea of the cat flap box but i think AJ would murder us if we tried to put a collar on him

Our guys have never worn collars what with being indoor-when AJ and Raven were kittens we considered it and then realised it was pretty pointless lol

As for the crate, i do actually have a 48 inch dog crate that the bunnies used to live in(they now have their own room to free range) but i just dont really like the idea of putting AJ in there. I think he would spend all night trying to get out and it would make us feel awful-we are suckers

And we would also feel guilty about kicking Rhino and Hernie out of the bedroom for the night as they are used to sleeping at the foot of the bed with us

not to mention AJ is so fussy that he would start digging to be let OUT even if his food was in with us

Sorry i dont mean to be shooting all the ideas down, they are some very good ones but we are either too soft or AJ is too awkward

dandysmom · 28-01-2011, 09:18 PM

JB, can't think f anything that hasn't already been suggested and is impractical. I personally don't like the idea of taking sleeping medications, but if you don't have strong feelings about them you could try that for a week or so. Maybe if you slept thru it he'd get the idea you weren't getting up any more in the wee small hours to feed him....... ???

farthing · 29-01-2011, 01:23 AM

A wee question, how old is AJ, its not something else that is causing this is it.

JBalways2000 · 30-01-2011, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farthing

A wee question, how old is AJ, its not something else that is causing this is it.

AJ will be 5 in August. Im not sure what else would cause this? I am pretty positive its a behaviour issue as like i said we went through the same thing when their food couldnt be left down when Raven was on a prescription diet, then it got better and now we are back to the same problem again because the food isnt being left down.

Strange thing is he actually let us sleep from 3am until 11am today! he must have known I'd made this thread and wanted to show me up

But that is literally the first night since August, and last night we decided to give him a tin of hi life pate as a treat in the evening followed by some of his own wet food before bed. I think one of the problems is that the prescription diet isnt satisfying him or keeping him full for very long at all

JBalways2000 · 30-01-2011, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dandysmom

JB, can't think f anything that hasn't already been suggested and is impractical. I personally don't like the idea of taking sleeping medications, but if you don't have strong feelings about them you could try that for a week or so. Maybe if you slept thru it he'd get the idea you weren't getting up any more in the wee small hours to feed him....... ???

Sorry this made me laugh, the things we do for our cats-contemplating taking sleeping pills so he cant wake us

Im not sure if that would even help-he tends to sit eating our hair and climbs on our faces if we dont wake up for him

I would just love if he got well enough to come off the prescription diet, obviously for more reasons then just getting a good nights sleep! he is due to have his urine tested again next month so i think i will discuss it with the vet depending on the results. The results have all been clear since and obviously we want to keep it that way so if he has to be on this food for life then so he shall be! but definately hoping not

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